Everything We Know About 'The Haunting of Hill House's Follow-Up

On Thursday, February 21, the streaming service announced its multi-year deal with showrunner Mike Flanagan along with news that The Haunting of Hill House would get a second season, but in the anthology vein. Similar to shows like American Horror Story, The Haunting will tell a new story with different characters.

The second season will include a new set of characters and fresh story.

So, what is there to know about the upcoming season? Within hours of the announcement there were enough details to satisfy even the thirstiest of viewers with a title and release year. Below we're rounding up everything we know so far.

The Title

Season 2 of The Haunting anthology will be known as The Haunting of Bly Manor, the title is inspired by a famous work of fiction similar to Hill House's novel counterpart by Shirley Jackson. In this instance, Bly Manor is a reference to Henry James's famed horror novella The Turn of the Screw.

Henry James

The Inspiration

Henry James is one of the world's most famous English writers and his novella The Turn of the Screw continues to be read well after its original 1898 publishing date. The story follows the events which occur at an estate known as Bly Manor, where a governess watches over the orphaned Miles and Flora after being employed by their uncle.

In the English countryside where Bly is situated, the governess becomes ill at ease when she begins seeing ghostly apparitions and fears what the figures may represent and what impact they might have on the family. Of course, this inspiration will surely only go so far. Since showrunner Mike Flanagan offered his own take on Shirley's work with Hill House, he'll likely do the same with Bly Manor.

Clues about the show's inspiration were given in a quick video teaser via the show's Twitter page prior to the full title release. In the video the dialogue, "The terrace and the whole place, the lawn and the garden beyond it, all I could see of the park, were empty with a great emptiness," was provided as a hint.

No word on whether the show will stick to Henry James's time period for the piece as Hill House defied Shirley Jackson's 1959 set-novel.

Premiere Date

No definite date has been provided but at the end of the initial video teaser "you're expected 2020," does confirm that Season 2 isn't arriving for some time. Thankfully it gives fans something to look forward to and plenty of time to rewatch Season 1 for all of the thrills, chills and excitement.

Who's Returning

No one has signed on for Season 2 officially but considering the anthology format and Flanagan's affinity for using the same talent in his various projects, we can't help but hope that a few familiar faces pop up in the new episodes. Hill House stars Kate Siegel (who's also Flanagan's wife), Carla Gugino, and Henry Thomas all appeared in the showrunner's Netflix film Gerald's Game in 2017.

The Haunting of Bly Manor, Coming 2020, Netflix

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